MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Mayor Lucille Blum and the other elected leaders of New Martinsville thought they were doing a good thing when they banned Marcellus shale gas drilling in their small town on the Ohio River. The unanimous vote had only one purpose, Blum says -- protecting water wells from a potential threat.
Businessman Matt Quinet thought they were crazy declaring the modern-day gold rush a "public nuisance." So did a lot of other people. And they made their feelings known: On Friday, exactly one month after City Council passed the ban, it began rescinding the ordinance. The final vote is set for Sept. 5.
"I didn't expect the pushback," Blum says, "and I don't think the council did, either."
Gas industry workers packed a council meeting to object, the president of the West Virginia Independent Oil & Gas Association threatened to take its business elsewhere, and Chesapeake Appalachia followed up with a letter urging council to reconsider.
"The statements were strong enough that they made us question the decisions that had been made and made us look at that industry a different way," Blum says.
-- Associated Press
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